Girl in Red is nothing if not refreshingly direct. The Norwegian singer-songwriter’s breakthrough track of 2018 was I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend, a tortured plea for something more from a platonic relationship. “I don’t wanna be your friend, I wanna kiss your lips,” she sang lustfully.
Another early song called Girls spelled things out even more clearly. “I’m not talking about boys, I’m talking about girls,” she specified. It wasn’t long before “do you listen to Girl in Red” became a code to discreetly establish sexual orientation. Marie Ulven’s merch stall still sells cute T-shirts asking the same question.
The title of Ulven’s long-awaited second album, released in April, is also unequivocal, perhaps to a fault: I’m Doing It Again Baby! A track called Doing It Again Baby opens this exuberant arena gig on a strange note that sounds unlike any music she has made before – an awkward attempt at art-funk that climaxes in a banjo breakdown. Charitably, the track’s job is to signal a new era. Ulven jumps around in a baggy suit and tie like a one-woman Boygenius as her all-male band do their best to sell it.
Both the overexcited title and bluegrass swerve can be forgiven, given the context. Three years separate Girl in Red’s debut, If I Could Make It Go Quiet (2021), from its follow-up – an aeon in pop time. Not to pit women against one another but to flesh out the scene: Olivia Rodrigo (pop-punk, relationship angst) and Chappell Roan (queer girl bops) are two not-dissimilar artists who have blossomed in Ulven’s absence.
A quiet song called I’m Back, sung at a bright red plastic block that conceals a piano, explains Girl in Red’s hiatus succinctly: “I was gone for a minute cos I went to get help.” Mid-ramble about pop star Charlie Puth, Ulven messes up the start of the song, quickly forgiving herself. “This song is literally about fucking up and being good again.”
She may have become an instant LGBTQ+ icon, but Ulven also set out another early stall singing about her own anxiety and intrusive thoughts. It brought her a constituency beyond queer young gen Z women. Serotonin, her ubiquitous 2021 hit, contained another series of typically brave, bald statements. “I’m running low on serotonin,” she sang. “I’m terrified of what’s inside.”
A lot transpired in the 36 months that separate Quiet from Baby! As well as taking time out to tend to her mental health, Ulven fell in love, got a dog and said “yes” to invitations more often, a habit that climaxed in opening for Taylor Swift on last year’s North American leg of the Eras tour. It gave the confessional bedroom pop-punk queen a taste for the bigger halls.
The messaging on this new album is: I’m so much better now, thank you. And although Ulven still reaches for her old indie-rock toolkit from time to time, I’m Doing It Again Baby! takes Girl in Red’s sound more mainstream.
The new songs send stylistic shoots out in several directions, not quite nailing the difficult second album problem. A complete aesthetic overhaul – like the one Billie Eilish performed for her happier (but not really) second album – might have landed more authoritatively. Judging from the activity in the crowd, most people’s allegiances remain with Girl in Red’s older work.
But Ulven’s songwriting nous remains undimmed; there are plenty of keepers here. New Love tries on 80s pop-rock with panache, examining an ex’s perspective. Pick Me is bang on brand, a piano ballad in which she angsts about male competition in love. Everyone waves their phone torches in approval.
Girl in Red’s pop glow-up is perhaps best summed up in the unexpected Sabrina Carpenter guest spot on You Need Me Now?, a dissection of a relationship gone wrong. Tonight, Ulven mock-introduces Carpenter – who isn’t here – then shouts “psych!”, getting the crowd to sing Carpenter’s part.
As the performance rolls on, it becomes less about Girl in Red showcasing her new record and more about Ulven herself – remaining charismatic, scatty and fan-friendly despite the uptick in seating. She signs someone’s tie while security attend to an ailing audience member. Three fan phones spell out “PLAY FOUR AM” on their screens – and she does. A handful of tributes make their way successfully to the stage: homemade flags, a hand-drawn portrait of Ulven, and a tie that contains a graphic image of “a lady spreading her legs” folded up inside. Ulven sticks the picture to the piano. “I can’t read sheet music but I can read this shit,” she guffaws.
Her set still ends with I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend, and a journey into the maw of the crowd. Girl in Red’s is, perhaps, the least lethal “wall of death” – a divided moshpit clashing together on command – in rock, but it’s one that restores your faith in other people. As Ulven disappears, still singing, into a tangle of arms and phones, it’s clear she is going to be OK on more than one level.
